#onthisday, 1880, Rabbi Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel (1880-1953) is born in Jerusalem.

Rabbi Uziel who lived until the age of 73, held a few truths to be time honored and hallowed, those of Jewish unity and harmony being chief among them. Throughout his illustrious career as Sephardi chief rabbi of both Mandatory Palestine and the State of Israel, he preached these values, garnering both halachic and aggadic sources to bolster his position.

Born to an illustrious family, his father (R. Yosef Raphael) having served as chief sephardic rabbi of Jerusalem, R’ Uziel was destined for greatness.

R. Uziel was appointed Hakham Bashi of Jaffa in 1911, where he worked closely with R. Abraham Isaac Kook, who at the time was leading the Ashkenazi community.

By the age of 20 he was teaching at the Tiferet Yerushalayim Yeshiva and helped found the Machzikei-Torah Yeshiva for Sephardim.

R. Uziel fought for God, His Torah and His people as a powerful spiritual leader and activist. During WW1, he worked for the protection and rights of Jews in Israel at the time which led the Ottoman Turks to exile him to Damascus until his return in 1920 after the British took over.

By 1939, he was appointed the Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Eretz Israel and then of the State of Israel from 1948 until his death in 1953.

The 3rd picture is R. Uziel at Israel’s Declaration of Independence.

🕯️May his righteous memory be a blessing and an inspiration
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#onthisday, Iyar 28, 5727 (June 7th, 1967), the IDF broke through Jordanian forces to liberate the Old City of Jerusalem - marking today as Yom Yerushalayim (or in English, Jerusalem Day)

“By the evening of June 6 and the fierce battle at Latrun, the Israeli forces had beaten back the ‘unbeatable’ Jordanian army…”

Then, the very next day, after short deliberation from Israeli officials and military personnel, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan ordered the Old City be captured (and later correctly labeled a, ‘liberation’.)

“The short battle for the Old City, which was conducted without tanks, artillery or aircraft for fear of damaging the holy sites, Gur declared his famous words: ‘The Temple Mount is in our hands’.”

For the previous 19 years of Israel`s existence, Jews were banned from visiting the Western Wall, no less the Temple Mount. The Jewish Quarter of the Old City had been desecrated (nearly all synagogues destroyed) and Jews living on the eastern side of the city after the 1949 ceasefire agreement, were ethnically cleansed by the Jordanian side.

Although Jewish presence in Jerusalem has been around since the destruction of the 2nd Temple in the year 70; a strong, independent & free Jewish presence in Jerusalem was practically non-existent.

Today, 56 years ago, all of that changed - not just for Jews, but for all peoples currently in Jerusalem today.

Not without its challenges and controversy, there is no denying that in the 56 years since Jerusalem’s re-unification, the city has flourished in ways not seen for a millennia or ever.

Thank you to the brave soldiers that fought then, that fight today, that will continue to fight tomorrow.

Thank You HaShem for the miracles revealed during these 6 Days in June of ‘67, may we merit to use these opportunities to bring about a more complete peace.

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📸 via @stateofisrael Defense Ministry Archives

Quotes from @timesofisrael PHOTO ESSAY 50 years on, just-released photos show horror, then joy, in Battle for Jerusalem